Heath Wallace Miller (born July 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Heath Slater. He also performed in Impact Wrestling, under the Mononym name Heath.
After debuting in 2004, Miller signed to WWE in 2006 and competed in its developmental territories Deep South Wrestling (DSW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) before appearing on the first season of WWE NXT in 2010. He debuted on WWE's main roster later that year as a member of The Nexus, becoming a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion with fellow Nexus member Justin Gabriel in the process. In 2016, he began a storyline which saw him form a tag team with Rhyno, leading the two to become the inaugural WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions. He is the first wrestler to have won both the SmackDown and Raw Tag Team Championships. He was released from WWE in April 2020, ending a 14-year tenure with the company.
Miller signed with Impact Wrestling later that year. He would reunite with former tag team partner Rhino and win the Impact World Tag Team Championship in 2022. Overall, Miller is a five-time tag team champion between WWE and Impact.
In 2007, Miller was given a talk show called 'The Happy Hour' during some FCW shows. During one segment, Billy Kidman was the guest; Miller claimed to idolize Kidman but then commented that Kidman's career was declining. This created a feud and led to a series of matches between the two. In January 2008, Miller started defending the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship on behalf of the champion Ted DiBiase, Jr., who was injured. DiBiase soon forfeited the belt and Miller was declared the champion.
Miller and his tag team partner Steven Lewington lost to John Morrison and the Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 15, 2008, at an FCW show. Miller and Lewington then advanced to the finals of a tournament for the inaugural Florida Tag Team Championship in February 2008. Miller and Lewington defeated Brandon Groom and Greg Jackson and The Thoroughbreds (Johnny Curtis and Alex Riley) to reach the finals. On February 23, 2008, Miller and Lewington lost to The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colón and Eric Perez) in the finals. On September 11, teaming with Curtis Axel, he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. As champion, he changed his ring name to Sebastian Slater. On October 30, 2008, Slater and Hennig lost the title to The New Hart Foundation (Harry Smith and Tyson Kidd) in Tampa, Florida. He later returned from injury and defeated Justin Angel. On August 13, 2009, at the 50th FCW TV taping, Miller defeated Gabbi Tuft to become FCW Heavyweight Champion. Slater lost the FCW Heavyweight Championship to Justin Gabriel in a two out of three falls match at the September 24, 2009, TV taping.Csonka, Larry (September 25, 2009) Complete FCW TV Taping Results (SPOILERS). 411mania.com
On February 16, 2010, Miller, now using the ring name Heath Slater, was one of eight FCW wrestlers to compete on the first season of the new WWE NXT show, with Christian Cage as his storyline mentor. On the inaugural episode of NXT, Slater debuted as a face as he and Christian defeated Carlito and Michael Tarver in a tag team match. Two weeks later, Slater defeated Carlito, becoming the first NXT rookie to defeat a WWE pro. On the March 30 episode of NXT, he came fourth out of eight rookies in the first Pros' Poll. On the April 6 episode, Slater won a keg-carrying contest against all other rookies. This resulted in him being in the main event that night, a match against Kane, which he lost. In an upset victory on April 20, Slater defeated Chris Jericho in the main event of NXT. However, Slater remained at fourth in the second Pros Poll, revealed on May 11. He was eliminated from NXT on May 25, coming in last in the Pros' Poll.
In October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell and at Bragging Rights, Cena and David Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Barrett made a tag team match, with Gabriel and Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, winning the title. Gabriel and Slater held the title for nearly two months, before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four-way elimination match also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on the December 6 episode of Raw. Gabriel and Slater received a championship rematch at but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Curtis Axel interfered. On the January 10, 2011, episode of Raw, Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk's initiation and walked away from the group.
The following day, at the January 11 taping of WWE SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater helped their former leader Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show. The following week, Gabriel, Slater, Barrett, and Jackson formed The Corre, and later that night Gabriel defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non-title match, following interference from the other members of The Corre. After winning a non-title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on the February 4 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship two weeks later, but lost via disqualification when the other members of The Corre interfered. They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 20 and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time. The following night on Raw, Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and The Miz, but won the championship back minutes later after Barrett invoked The Corre's rematch clause and The Miz quickly turned on Cena. The match ended with Slater pinning Cena. The Corre began a feud with Big Show and at WrestleMania XXVII, the team of Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre. At the April 19 taping of SmackDown, the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Kane and The Big Show. In a backstage segment following the match, Gabriel was attacked by Slater, who thought Gabriel blamed him for their loss. On the May 6, 2011, edition of SmackDown, Gabriel, Barrett and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group. Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater in a 6-man tag team match against Jackson and The Usos on the June 10, 2011, edition of SmackDown, leading to Gabriel and Slater telling Barrett that The Corre was over. Slater and Gabriel then started a feud with The Usos. On the June 17, 2011, episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater were defeated by The Usos, later defeating them in a rematch on the June 24, 2011, edition. The next day, he and Gabriel were added to the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match.
On the June 11, 2012, episode of Raw, Slater began appearing in segments involving WWE veterans returning to Raw as a build-up to Raw's 1000th episode on July 23. 2012. In the segments, Slater would enter the ring and issue challenges to "the so-called legends" or "any former WWE champion", which resulted in him losing a series of , with the first two losses to Vader and Sid Eudy. He was further humiliated in a comedic segment by Roddy Piper, Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper. He defeated Doink the Clown on the July 2, 2012, edition of Raw, but following the match, Diamond Dallas Page came to the ring and performed the Diamond Cutter on Slater. On the July 9, 2012, episode of Raw, after losing to Sin Cara, Slater berated the audience and issued a challenge "to any former champion" and guaranteed he would defeat him; Bob Backlund accepted the challenge. Shortly after Backlund entered, Slater hit him with a cheap shot. Backlund then applied the crossface chickenwing submission hold and kept it locked in long after Slater had tapped out. In following matches Scotty 2 Hotty, Rikishi and Road Warrior Animal all defeated Slater in further matches.
On July 23, 2012, during the 1000th episode of Raw, he demanded a "no disqualifications, no countout" match and guaranteed his own victory. Lita responded to the challenge, however before the match could begin, Lita said she had "hired herself a little protection", after which APA emerged. Slater attempted to leave; however, he was forced back to the ring by all of the legends who had humiliated Slater in the preceding weeks on Raw. Lita performed a twist of fate on Slater, followed by a clothesline from hell by John Layfield. Lita then pinned Slater after performing a moonsault. As Slater lay prone in the ring, the legends celebrated while Ron Simmons taunted him with his catchphrase "Damn!".
On the November 11, 2013, edition of Raw, while on tour in the UK, 3MB changed their name to The Union Jacks, but were defeated by Santino Marella and Los Matadores. On the November 13, 2013, episode of Main Event, Slater and McIntyre would defeat The Prime Time Players. On the November 15, 2013, episode of SmackDown, The Union Jacks were defeated by R-Truth and The Prime Time Players. On the November 18, 2013 country music episode of Raw, 3MB competed as The Rhinestone Cowboys. McIntyre and Mahal lost to R-Truth and the debuting Xavier Woods in Nashville, Tennessee. Similarly, this trend of name changes continued to amount the group losses as they also lost to The Prime Time Players on SmackDown, as The Fabulous 3Birds, which was a play on legendary tag team, The Fabulous Freebirds. On the November 29, 2013, episode of SmackDown, they were billed as The Plymouth Rockers, a play on The Rockers tag team, even coming out to the Rockers' theme music and faced Los Matadores, along with their mascot, Mascarita Dorada in a losing effort. Shortly after that match, Slater took time off from WWE to deal with personal issues. He returned on the January 6, 2014, edition of Raw, which saw 3MB defeated by Rikishi and Too Cool. On April 4, 2014, Slater broke his losing streak, picking up the win against Kofi Kingston on Superstars. At WrestleMania XXX, all three members entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and eliminated both The Great Khali and Xavier Woods as a unit, before all three were eliminated by Mark Henry. After WrestleMania, 3MB entered a feud with Los Matadores, which saw Hornswoggle ally himself with the trio so as to feud with El Torito. 3MB won their first match since December 2012 after Slater and McIntyre beat Los Matadores on the April 28, 2014, edition of Raw. On June 12, 2014, both Mahal and McIntyre were released from their WWE contracts, thus disbanding 3MB.
On the August 4, 2014, episode of Raw, thanks to a distraction from Jon Moxley, Slater scored an upset victory over Seth Rollins and he followed it up a week later with a count-out victory over Dolph Ziggler thanks to yet another distraction, this time from The Miz. During this period, Slater Gator also scored victories on Main Event over Los Matadores and Gold and Stardust. Slater's brief winning streak was ended when Slater Gator were defeated by Los Matadores on the August 25, 2014, edition of Raw. Slater Gator then began a feud with Adam Rose and his bunny, who has attacked Slater on many occasions. In his return to Raw on November 17, 2014, he returned in Uncle Sam attire and became the next victim against Rusev. Later at Survivor Series, Slater remained and Titus O'Neil lost to Adam Rose and The Bunny. In December 2014, a warrant for Slater's arrest was issued, rendering him inactive until all legal issues are resolved. The charges were dropped on January 15, 2015. Slater returned to action in a dark match against Luke Harper on February 3, 2015. On the February 12, 2015, edition of SmackDown, Slater Gator competed in a tag team turmoil match, where they were quickly defeated by the team of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.
On the February 16, 2015, episode of Raw, O'Neil made a face turn and reformed the Prime Time Players with Fred Rosser, effectively disbanding Slater Gator. Later that night, Slater stated on social media, "I'm going to start focusing on ME!!! I'm better on my own ... It's about time I get what I deserve," cementing their breakup. Shortly afterwards, Slater debuted a shorter haircut. At WrestleMania 31, Slater competed in the 30-man Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Big Show. Slater returned to the scenes on the April 20, 2015, edition of Raw when he was at catering, only to receive an RKO through the table by Randy Orton. On the May 28, 2015, edition of Superstars, Slater picked up a victory against Adam Rose. Slater would appear mostly on Superstars and Main Event losing to the likes of Fandango, Neville, R-Truth, and Zack Ryder. Slater started appearing on Raw, trying to answer John Cena's United States Championship Open Challenge, but was denied each week.
On the January 4, 2016 Raw, Slater debuted a new stable of himself, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose and Bo Dallas calling themselves "social outcasts". Slater went on to defeat Dolph Ziggler after interference from his stablemates. On the January 11 episode of Raw, now billed as The Social Outcasts, the group would face The Wyatt Family to a no contest when Ryback got involved. On the January 14 episode of SmackDown, the four defeated the team of Dustin Rhodes, Aron Stevens, Jake Hager and Matt Cardona in an eight-man tag match. On the February 15 episode of Raw, Slater defeated Matt Cardona with the help of The Social Outcasts. On April 3, Slater competed in the 3rd annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 but was eliminated. In May, The Social Outcasts began filming , taking them out of action.
The Social Outcasts returned on the June 27 episode of Raw, confronting Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The following week on Raw, The Social Outcasts faced Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a losing effort.
During this time, Slater started a gimmick as a desperate father with several children to support, including the catchphrase "I got kids", which would slowly turn Slater to a fan favorite for the first time since 2010. He eventually signed with SmackDown and found an unlikely ally in Rhyno, with the two emerging victorious in the finals of a tag team tournament at Backlash, defeating The Usos and becoming the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions. On October 9 at No Mercy, Slater and Rhyno successfully defended the titles against The Usos. At Survivor Series, Slater and Rhyno were the team captains for Team SmackDown in the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match, where they were defeated by Team Raw. At , Slater and Rhyno's reign came to an end at 84 days after they were defeated by Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Two days later on SmackDown, Slater and Rhyno received their rematch but failed to regain the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, 2017, the duo were the first entrants into the tag team turmoil match for the titles, eliminating Breezango and the Vaudevillains before being eliminated by The Usos. At WrestleMania 33, Slater and Rhyno both competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but neither were able to win.
On the April 10 episode of Raw, both Slater and Rhyno were sent to the Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. On the June 5 episode of Raw, Slater and Rhyno unsuccessfully challenged Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team Championship. After pinning The Miz in a tag team match on the June 12 episode of Raw, Slater was awarded an Intercontinental Championship match against Miz on the July 3 episode of Raw, which he lost. On the October 30 episode of Raw, Slater and Rhyno defeated The Club in an All Hallow's Eve Trick or Street Fight. He entered the 2018 Royal Rumble as the fifth entrant, but was attacked by Baron Corbin before he could enter the ring. He would then repeatedly be attacked by incoming entrants, keeping him from entering the ring. The eleventh entrant, Sheamus, inserted him to the ring and Slater immediately eliminated him in a huge upset, but was eliminated seconds later by Bray Wyatt. At WrestleMania 34, Slater entered the fifth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but did not win. He also participated in the 50-man Royal Rumble match at the Greatest Royal Rumble, where he entered at number 36. However, he was eliminated by eventual winner Braun Strowman.
On the December 3 episode of Raw, acting general manager Baron Corbin forced Slater and Rhyno to fight each other with the stipulation that the loser will be fired. Slater won, but Corbin immediately repositioned him as a referee instead of a competitor. The following week on Raw, Slater refereed a match between Elias and Lio Rush, where he allowed Bobby Lashley to attack Elias, leading to Rush's win. Later that same night, he attempted to cost Seth Rollins the Intercontinental Championship by helping Corbin during their match, but failed. At , Slater was scheduled to referee a TLC match between Braun Strowman and Baron Corbin, but during the match Slater took off his referee shirt (with help from Apollo Crews, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Finn Bálor, and Kurt Angle) and attacked Corbin, allowing Strowman to win the match. The next night, the McMahon family (Vince, Stephanie, Shane, and Triple H) announced that they will collectively be in charge of Raw and SmackDown. Corbin begged to be the permanent Raw general manager, but the family announced that he would have to win a no disqualification handicap match against Angle, Crews, Roode, and Gable with Slater as referee, which he lost. After Corbin was removed from power, Rhyno returned to aid Slater against an attack from Jinder Mahal on the December 24 episode of Raw. The following week on Raw, Slater and Rhyno faced Mahal and The Singh Brothers in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 35, Slater competed in the sixth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but failed to win. On July 17, their team ended after Rhyno left WWE.
On April 15, 2020, he was released from his WWE performers contract due to budget cuts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, ending his 14-year tenure with the company. On the July 6 episode of Raw, Slater, still under a 90-day no-compete clause, appeared to confront his former 3MB teammate Drew McIntyre, and he demanded a match against McIntyre, which he lost easily. After the match, Slater was attacked by Dolph Ziggler before being saved by McIntyre as the two embraced and shared a moment in the ring together. His no-compete clause expired on July 14, 2020.
At Victory Road, Heath and Rhino teamed for the first time in Impact, where they defeated Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend). Three days later, Scott D'Amore offered Heath a contract, however, contract talks broke down. D'Amore eventually allowed Heath and Rhino to enter the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at Bound for Glory, and if either man won, Heath would get his contract, and if neither won, Rhino would be fired. At Bound for Glory, Rhino won the match, thus winning Heath an Impact contract, however, Heath suffered an injury during the match.
After an absence of almost a year, he returned from injury on the September 30, 2021, episode of Impact!, saving Rhino from a potential attack by Violent By Design, a stable that Rhino used to be a part of. At Bound for Glory, Heath and Rhino defeated Violent By Design (Cody Deaner and Joe Doering). afterwards Heath and Rhino decided to challenge VBD to one more match at Turning Point, which was accepted and at the event Rhino and Heath were defeated. At Turning Point, Heath and Rhino lost to Violent By Design (Eric Young and Joe Doering). On the Under Siege preshow, Heath and Rhino defeated Champagne Singh and Mahabali Shera. At Against All Odds, Heath, America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm), and The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) defeated Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and PCO) in a ten man tag team match. At Victory Road, Heath, Josh Alexander, and Rich Swann lost to Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett).
At Bound for Glory, Heath competed in 20-person Intergender Call Your Shot Gauntlet which was won by Bully Ray. On October 8, 2022, during the Impact! taping, Heath and Rhino defeated The Kingdom to become to the new Impact World Tag Team Champions, marking his first title in Impact Wrestling. At Over Drive, Heath and Rhino defeated the Major Players (Brian Myers and Matt Cardona) to retain the titles. On the December 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Heath and Rhino lost the tag team championship to the Motor City Machine Guns.
At Hard To Kill, Heath and Rhino competed in a Four-way tag team elimination match for the Impact World Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles. at No Surrender, Heath competed in a Four-way match to determine the #1 contender to the Impact World Championship which was won by Steve Maclin. at Rebellion, Heath and Rhino lost to Champagne Singh and Mahabali Shera during the preshow. At Against All Odds, Heath competed in the 8-4-1 match to determine the #1 contender to the Impact World Championship which was won by Nick Aldis. At Bound for Glory, Heath competed in 20-person Intergender Call Your Shot Gauntlet which was won by Jordynne Grace.
On October 27, 2023, it was reported that Heath's contract had expired.
On November 23, 2024, Slater unsuccessfully challenged Evan Golden for the Scotty Campbell in Elizabethton, Tennessee. After E.Z. Money blinded special enforcer Buff Bagwell at ringside, Slater was knocked out by Golden with brass knuckles, allowing Golden to cheat and retain the title.
Miller was the host of WWE Game Night on WWE.com and WWE's YouTube channel.
Miller, as Heath Slater, is a playable character in the WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20.
Miller remains friends with Scottish wrestler Drew McIntyre and Indo-Canadian wrestler Jinder Mahal (formerly Jinder Mahal), who were his stablemates in the team 3MB during his time in WWE.
The Nexus and The Corre (2010–2011)
Feud with the Legends (2011–2012)
3MB (2012–2014)
Slater-Gator and Social Outcasts (2014–2016)
Teaming with Rhyno (2016–2019)
Final appearances (2019–2020)
Impact Wrestling (2020–2023)
Independent circuit (2020–present)
Other media
Personal life
Filmography
Film
2017 Cash
Web shows
2013 The JBL and Cole Show Himself 2013–2015 The JBL and Renee Show Himself/"Big" Clem Layfield 2016–2017 WWE Game Night Himself (a.k.a. Mr. Miller) 2017 Southpaw Regional Wrestling Pelvis Wesley 2021–present Heath House Himself
Championships and accomplishments
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Notes
External links
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